While white linen is extremely likely to show any markings and certain to become hopelessly rumpled, there is something about it I cannot resist. Even (and especially) wrinkled all to hell, I think white linen looks great. More so than linen in other colors, somehow.

*This was the second style I chose to fulfill the envelope clutch quest I mentioned a few posts ago. I’m tempted to go for this kind of honey, cognac shade every time, virtually independent of context. So predictable.

I’ve been searching for a great white summer dress for decades now, it seems. Somehow it’s eluding me.

I’m imagining a drapey (a heavy silk-like cotton blend, imagine) white maxi dress with a casual Grecian look. Something like this, though this dress only looks the thing from the side, and upon investigation is no good.

Last year I picked up this ‘Goddess Maxi’ from Victoria’s Secret. No longer on their site but you can still find it around. It’s a bit too formal, though, to meet the criteria of the quest. The fabric itself is a little fussy, heavy and stretchy with a slight slickness, and the gathering detail in the front also feels fancy to me. Pretty, but not the one.

I considered their knife-pleat maxi, too,* but decided it’s better in color (I like the navy), and anyway it doesn’t come in white.

*I usually find Victoria’s Secret hopelessly tacky but once in a while I really like a piece of clothing, and I like their bikinis and their simple cotton underwear, too.

Anybody have a recommendation for me?

I could also happily turn in the direction of a 40s midi dress, I think.

I stumbled across this wonderful Etsy shop of handmade and hand painted leather accessories that specializes in python designs, linmade, and, after a few months of deliberation, recently had a bit of a field day.

Here are the pieces I picked out, which will have to have proper showings once they arrive. I’ve been wanting an oversized envelope-style clutch for a while, and found a couple of pleasing candidates, this simple fold-over design being one.

*A few weeks later I completed the quest in a second and completely different way, which will also show you soon.

The second bag I got was a small zippered pouch. This lavender-tinged brown/white/turquoise combination is irresistible to me. Though there are a lot of other nice ones in the shop, the other color combos didn’t stand a chance.

I was going to stop at this but the shop owner, Lina, responded so nicely to a query about shipping (she is based in Indonesia) that I decided to get one of her makeup pouches, fairly squat and wide, and just the capacious-yet-structured style I like for a makeup bag.

And a belt…because actually I’ve been looking for a python belt like this for months now!

Here are a few other items that caught my eye, to give you a better sense of the shop and the great use of color she has:

The physical and chemical properties of eggs are pretty much endlessly interesting to me, and I can eat eggs every day. Was craving ramen after reading this great breakdown of why it is easier to get a great soft-boiled egg (that is also easier to peel) if you start the egg in boiling water. This is a 6 minute egg dropped into a rapid boil, and somewhere between 5 and 6 I find just right for this application.

Ramen (again) with all the garnishes I can fit, aided by the use of a generous bowl (I love this one from Finnish brand Arabia, ideal for me in curvature, size and weight).

“The beauty myth tells a story: The quality called “beauty” objectively and universally exists. Women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it. This embodiment is an imperative for women and not for men, which situation is necessary and natural because it is biological, sexual, and evolutionary: strong men battle for beautiful women, and beautiful women are more reproductively successful. Women’s beauty must correlate to their fertility and since this system is based on sexual selection, it is inevitable and changeless.

None of this is true. “Beauty” is a currency system like the gold standard. Like any economy, it is determined by politics, and in the modern age in the West it is the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance intact.”

– The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women, Naomi Wolf

1. I have not shaved the legs in many weeks. I am not fully convinced of the virtue of the shaved leg.

2. In certain bodycon/bodysuit contexts, I think: no bra. In many backless cases the appeal of the smooth, unbroken plane of the back far outweighs the (socially inconvenient? they are quite harmless, quite common) fact of the nipples. As Karla Deras put it in answer to an undergarment query, let them breathe.